The divine realm was quiet again.
Morning light spilled gently across the hills, glimmering along the polished stone walkways of Tian Yuan's manor. Dew shimmered upon divine crops, each drop vibrating faintly with radiant qi as though humming in gratitude.
The land felt cleaner.
Calmer.
Yet beneath that calm… something lingered.
Not corruption — but unease.
The five divine beasts rested near the Celestial Vine, their breaths steady. The Realm Spirit slept peacefully under Tian Yuan's cloak, faint light pulsing softly with each breath.
But the Golden Dragon did not sleep.
Its massive coils rested atop the highest mountain peak, shimmering like a sun forged into living scales. Its eyes deep, ancient, proud stared toward the horizon where the divine sky met the void.
It felt something.
A presence.
Something that should not exist.
Something that remembered war.
The Dragon's Memory
The dragon's mind drifted not in dream, but in instinct.
Golden light rippled across its scales as old memories awakened.
A battlefield of shattered worlds.
Gods screaming in silence.
Sky ripped apart by blades of void.
The Shadow Lord's army.
It remembered roaring at the heavens, defending its old realm until its body fell, its spirit sealed, and eventually reborn here… in this peaceful land.
Under this quiet farmer-god.
This calm cultivator who tilled soil instead of conquering worlds.
This man who was gentle… yet terrifying.
The dragon bowed its head slightly.
Tian Yuan had given it a home.
A purpose.
A sky worth defending.
And perhaps for the first time in countless ages something like peace.
But peace was fragile.
And the void… had patience.
A Whisper Creeps In
The mountain wind stilled.
The dragon's pupils narrowed.
Something moved behind the light a ripple in reality faint, elusive, oily.
Then… a whisper slid through the cracks of memory.
Not a dream.
Not illusion.
A needle of thought thrust directly into its mind.
"Golden One… survivor of fallen heavens…"
The dragon's claws dug into stone. Its scales glowed bright then dimmed.
The voice seeped deeper.
"You hide beneath a farmer's shadow…
guarding crops instead of realms…"
The sky dimmed slightly.
Clouds slowed.
Time thickened.
The Shade had not entered the realm.
It entered the mind of the dragon.
The same way it attacked the disciples.
But this time… it did not use despair.
It used honor.
"You were a war general…
a guardian of star-realms…
a god-slayer…"
The dragon growled softly restrained.
The voice grew bolder.
"And now… you bow."
A faint crack formed in the peak beneath its claws.
Lightning flickered in distant clouds.
Its golden aura trembled not in corruption…
…but conflict.
The Farmer Senses the Wind
Down in the fields, Tian Yuan stopped working.
He had been tending a small patch of divine herbs loosening soil, adjusting root qi flow, guiding life gently. His movements were calm, unhurried more meditation than labor.
The Realm Spirit stirred under his cloak.
Her eyes opened slowly.
"…Father?"
He looked toward the mountain peak.
The system flickered to life.
"Boss signature anomaly detected in the dragon's mental field. Not hostile yet but something's poking around… uh… very rudely."
The wind shifted.
The crops bent not in fear but in warning.
Tian Yuan's expression did not change.
But his aura deepened.
Quiet.
Grounded.
Unmovable.
"Stay here," he said softly.
The Realm Spirit nodded trusting him.
He vanished.
Not with force but like a leaf drifting from one branch to another.
The Mountain of Golden Silence
He appeared beside the dragon.
The peak trembled under a pressure not of rage but of will constrained so tightly it hummed like a bowstring.
The dragon's eyes shone half bright gold, half dark storm.
Not corrupted.
But torn between two selves:
The War General
and
The Guardian of Peace.
The Shade spoke again:
"He binds your strength beneath plows and seeds.
You were not born to serve a farmer."
Tian Yuan closed his eyes gently.
So.
This was how they attacked now.
Not by fear.
Not by despair.
But by truth twisted at the edges.
The Farmer Speaks to a Dragon
Tian Yuan did not release killing intent.
He did not unleash divine authority.
He spoke.
Calmly.
"Dragon."
The Golden Dragon's pupils shrank almost snapping loose from the whisper's hold.
It turned massive wings half-lifted torn between bowing and roaring.
Its voice rumbled through the heavens.
"Master… I…"
The Shade hissed inside its thoughts:
"Say it claim your throne reclaim your sky"
The dragon shook thunder trembling through the clouds.
Tian Yuan stepped forward and placed one hand upon its snout.
Warm.
Grounded.
Real.
"You were not born to serve," Tian Yuan said softly.
"Nor were you born to conquer."
The wind stilled.
The dragon's breath slowed.
Tian Yuan looked up at it eyes steady, voice quiet.
"You were born…
to choose."
Golden light rippled across the dragon's scales.
The Shade went silent.
Tian Yuan continued voice firm, yet gentle.
"War gave you strength.
Pain gave you memory.
But peace gave you purpose."
The dragon trembled.
Not from corruption.
From emotion.
Tian Yuan pressed his palm more firmly against its brow.
"Here, you are not a weapon.
You are not a relic of old battles.
You are… a guardian."
The soil beneath them glowed faintly.
The realm answered his words.
The Shade screamed silently.
Its whispers began to dissolve.
"And a guardian does not bow," Tian Yuan said quietly.
The dragon's pupils brightened into molten gold.
"A guardian chooses…
what is worth protecting."
The whisper shattered.
The mountain exhaled.
The Dragon's Oath
The Golden Dragon lowered its head fully — not in submission —
but in acknowledgment.
In respect freely given.
Its voice thundered gently across the realm.
"I choose this land."
The clouds parted.
Light cascaded.
"I choose these fields."
The divine beasts raised their heads.
The Realm Spirit smiled faintly in her sleep.
"I choose…
to guard the farmer who taught a war-beast…
how to live."
The system sniffed loudly.
"Boss… I'm not crying…
these are just… divine firmware leaks…"
Tian Yuan gave a faint smile.
He removed his hand.
The dragon lifted its head prouder than before
not a servant
not a weapon
but a sworn protector.
A being who chose peace…
and would burn worlds before letting it break.
But Far Beyond the Void…
Something watched.
Not a Shade.
Not a fragment.
But the one who commanded them.
The Shadow Lord's presence stirred faintly.
Silent.
Measuring.
The dragon resisting corruption…
was not expected.
The farmer-god…
was becoming dangerous.
Tian Yuan turned his gaze toward the distant void — as if feeling that silent attention.
His voice was low.
Calm.
Resolute.
"Let them come."
The wind carried his final words through the realm —
soft
gentle
and unbreakable:
"I will not rule the heavens.
I will tend them."
End of Chapter 81